IntroductionThe Star Wars Miniatures SWMGPA (Star Wars Miniatures Gamers Players Association) Floor Rules and the Star Wars Miniatures Game Rules should be read and understood by all players wishing to compete in sanctioned events. All SWMGPA members participating in SWMGPA-sanctioned Star Wars™ Miniatures events must abide by these rules. The SWMGPA effectively replaces the DCI for sanctioning body with the discontinued support of the game. All match and tournament rules are now governed by the SWMGPA.

Two other documents—the DCI Universal Tournament Rules and the SWMGPA Penalty Guidelines—are used by organizers and judges who wish to further understand the details of how sanctioned events are to be organized and run, and to understand how judging for SWMGPA events should work. These documents can be found at http://www.swmgamers.com/page.php?27

Documents and software for tournament scoring and pairing as well as programs and ratings can be found at the above link.

602. Ratings Categories The SWMGPA provides the following ratings categories:

• Constructed: includes all constructed formats• Limited: includes all limited formatsSWMGPA Ratings and Rankings for all sanctioned games can be viewed at http://www.swmgamers.com

603. Necessary Tournament Materials Players must bring the following items to participate: • A terrain map (battle grids and terrain tiles may not be used in SWMGPA-sanctioned Star Wars Miniatures tournaments). Players in Limited tournaments may bring multiple terrain maps and choose one to use during squad construction.• A 20-sided die (d20). Dice must not be especially large or small. Players may not use Spindown™ dice or any dice that have all of the high numbers in a cluster together.• Tokens or pen and paper for clearly tracking damage, force point use, victory points, and other effects.• Models and corresponding stat cards for constructed events.

604. Authorized Models, Stat Cards and Terrain MapsStar Wars Miniatures models released by Wizards of the Coast LLC are legal for tournament play. Star Wars Miniatures stats cards released by SWMGamers.com are legal for tournament play (This includes downloaded stat cards that have not had any alterations made to said downloaded card. Any player caught using an altered stat card will be disqualified from tournament play). Players must have the official corresponding stat cards for all registered miniatures. Players using multiples of the same model need only one copy of the official stat card for those models (with the exception of conversions being used) but still must provide a clear method for all players to readily know the status of each individual model. Players must make their stat cards available to opponents or tournament officials upon request.

The 181st Imperial Pilot miniature is used to represent the model for this stat card. All stated rules in 604 providing a clear method for all players to readily know the status of each model are still applicable. If both the 181st Imperial Pilot and the Elite AT-AT Driver are used in the same squad, a clear method for all players to readily identify each individual miniature must be in place.

ConversionsConversions (customization of models) are allowed in SWMGPA-sanctioned Star Wars Miniatures tournaments, but must adhere to the following rules:• The base of the conversion must be the same size as the mini being represented• Base models must remain easily identifiable. A player must be able to tell what each model is on first glance at the battlefield.• When a conversion is being used it must have the corresponding official card for each conversion model. For example, if a player is using three customized Mouse Droid models and one official Mouse Droid model in their squad they will need to have four official Mouse Droid cards.• Additional equipment (including weaponry) may not be added to a model if that equipment is not represented on the model’s stat card. For example, a player may not add a blaster to a model that doesn’t have a ranged attack.• Conversions maybe used instead of the recommended miniature as long as the official stat card or downloaded stat card accompanies it and it is easily recognizable as such miniature.• For the purpose of counting as having a lightsaber refer to the stat card. If the card has the Lightsaber Special Ability, a Force Power with the word “lightsaber” or the card image itself depicts a lightsaber then the figure is considered to have a lightsaber. In the case of a minature (including Recommended miniature) having a lightsaber but not meeting the above criteria then it is not counted as having a lightsaber.

The following Star Wars Miniatures terrain maps are legal for tournament play at any point level. Organizers choose one of three map lists (Open, Standard, or Restricted) for the tournament. The Standard map list is recommended. Maps marked with an X are legal when using that list. A few maps are not legal in any list. Maps listed as MoM can be found at:http://www.mapsofmastery.com

605. New ReleasesStar Wars Miniatures models are allowed in both SWMGPA-sanctioned Constructed and Limited tournaments as soon as they are published in a set. Prerelease models and promo miniatures are not allowed in sanctioned play unless they are a part of a set that has been released.

606. Participation MinimumsA minimum of four people must participate in a Star Wars Miniatures SWMGPA-sanctioned event. If this minimum is not met, the event is no longer considered SWMGPA-sanctioned, and will not be included in SWMGPA ratings. If participation minimums are not met for any SWMGPA-sanctioned event, the tournament organizer must report the event as cancelled.

611. Match StructureStar Wars Miniatures matches consist of one game per match. Match results are reported to the SWMGPA for inclusion in the worldwide ratings.

612. Match Time LimitsSixty minutes are recommended for each tournament round of Constructed or Limited tournaments. Games are meant to be played to completion (reach victory conditions) within the time limit. Players must take their turns in a timely fashion regardless of the complexity of the play situation and adhere to time limits specified for the tournament. Players must maintain a pace to allow the match to be finished in the announced time limit. Judges should ensure a fair outcome within the recommended time limits.

613. Squad RegistrationA player must register his or her squad, recording all models and selected terrain map to be used, before the start of the first round of play. In constructed tournaments, players may not change their squad or terrain map during the tournament. In Limited tournaments, players may only change their squad or terrain map if a new set of sealed product is opened or a new draft occurs.

614. Pregame Procedures and Who Plays First1. Players begin the pregame procedure by revealing their squads to each other.2. Players roll to determine which player will chose the map to be played on.3. The player with the higher roll chooses which map will be played on. The player with the lower roll selects whether to set up first or second. The player who sets up first selects a side and sets up his miniatures, then the other player sets up on the opposite side.4. Players roll for initiative to determine who will play first.

615. Tournament Play ProceduresPlayers must follow these procedures and etiquette during play:

SetupAll miniatures must start with part of their base within four squares of the short edge of the map on that player's side.Players must fill their starting area as completely as possible, then extra characters are placed as close to the starting area as possible. Huge figures must be set up first, then Large, Medium and Small figures.

Start LocationWhen counting out movement for a miniature, players should leave the miniature in its starting place until the final position of the miniature is chosen. Alternately, players may mark the starting location of a miniature with a token.

Number of Activations per RoundOn the first phase of the round, the first player activates only one character. The next player then activates two characters. The first player then begins a new phase, activating two more characters. Players continue alternating in this way until all characters have been activated.

Model ActivationPlayers must indicate which models have been activated in one of three ways:1. Turn the stat card of an activated model 90 degrees.2. Place a token or bead on the stats cards of models that have been activated.3. Turn the miniature of a model that has been activated to face the opposite direction.

Damage Counters and EffectsDamage and effects must be clearly tracked on the stat card, the model, or on paper during the match. Players may use damage counters or dice (they must be distinct from other types of counters or dice used in the game), pen and paper, or mark directly on the stat card itself to keep track of these effects.

Destroyed Squad MembersDestroyed squad members and their corresponding stat card should be set aside from the play area.

616. End-of-Match ProcedureA match ends when:1. a player meets the victory condition, or2. the match time limit runs out, or 3. no side takes damage, makes an attack roll, or makes a saving throw for 5 complete rounds.

If a match ends before a player meets the victory condition, players complete the current round. If neither player has reached the victory condition, the following tiebreakers are used: 1. The player who has scored the most victory points wins the match. 2. The player whose model is closest to the center of the terrain map wins the match. 3. If more than one model is equally close, the player that owns the highest-cost model closest to the center wins the match. If the players are still tied, the match is considered a double-loss (no match points are awarded).

621. Squad ConstructionPlayers must follow the faction rules as stated in the Star Wars Miniatures Game Rules.

Squads may not contain more points than the limit specified by the format category. (They may contain less.)622. Constructed Scenarios Standard Scenario Victory Condition: Victory is achieved if one player eliminates his opponent's entire squad (including Reinforcements) at the end of a round while having at least one piece of his own remaining. If this has not occurred at the end of a round, if at least one player has scored points equal to or in excess of the format point limit (100, 150 or 200 points), the player with the most victory points wins. If both players meet this condition and have the same number of victory points, players play an additional round. The player with the most victory points at the end of the extra round wins. If the players are still have the same number of victory points, additional rounds are played until the tie is broken, or match time runs out (see Section 616).There are two ways to score victory points:1) Eliminate enemy models: points scored are equal to model cost2) Occupy the map center: five points are scored each round that a player ends a round with a model that costs five points or more (Reinforcements count as 0) within four squares of the center of the map; ignore low objects and walls when determining this area. Both players may score in the same round and neither player scores more than five points total even if they have more than one model near the center of the map. This method of scoring points is generally referred to as "Gambit" scoring. Examples:

Area for scoring if the center of the map is a total square. Area for scoring if the center of the map is a point.

630. RULES FOR LIMITED TOURNAMENTS There are two types of Limited tournaments: Sealed or Booster Pack Draft. The rules for these two types of sealed tournaments have different setup and constructions rules, detailed in Sections 640 and 650 respectively.

631. Limited Scenarios

Standard Scenario – see description in Section 622.

640. RULES FOR SEALED TOURNAMENTS

Tournament SetupOnce players are seated, tournament officials provide each player with 1) One Starter Set and one Booster Pack, or2) Two Booster Packs

Each player must receive the same product. Example: If a player receives a Rebel Storm Starter Set and a Clone Strike Booster, all players must receive a Rebel Storm Starter Set and a Clone Strike Booster.

Sealed Squad Construction and RegistrationOnce all players receive their sealed product, they will have 20 minutes to build and register their squads from the product provided.

Squads may not contain more points than the limit specified by the format category.

There are no faction restrictions in the Sealed format. Players may use any models they receive in their sealed product for their squad, even multiples of the same unique model.

Players may choose their terrain map during squad registration. If players receive a Starter Set, they may choose to use the terrain map in the Starter Set instead of one brought to the event. Players should indicate their terrain map choice on their squad registration sheet. Players then roll to see who chooses which end to set up at. The choosing player deploys all their miniatures first.

650. RULES FOR BOOSTER PACK DRAFT TOURNAMENTS

Tournament SetupPlayers are seated randomly into drafting circles (called pods) of roughly equal size. Four is the recommended pod size. Pods may not contain less than three or more than five players, and tournament officials must maximize the number of four-person pods. Example: If nine players are registered for a draft tournament, they should be seated in two pods: one with four players and one with five. They should not be seated in three pods with three people each.

A tournament official then distributes two new Booster Packs to each player. Each player must receive same product. For example, if one player receives a Clone Strike Booster and Rebel Storm Booster, all players must receive a Clone Strike Booster and Rebel Storm Booster.

Active Player RotationThe player drafting first from the stat cards presented on the table is called the active player. The first active player is the participant in the first seat, designated by the judge. All players in each drafting pod serve as the active player once for each Booster Pack group, with the active player moving between players as follows:• In a clockwise direction for the first Booster Pack group (beginning with the first active player)• In a counterclockwise direction for the second Booster Pack group (starting with the last active player in the first group).

Table PreparationEach active player lays out stat cards of one Booster Pack face up on the table, with the stat cards facing him or her and the models set aside from the drafting area. Players are given 30 seconds to review the cards before drafting begins. At the end of the 30-second review, the active player drafts the first stat card. Then each player in turn has 10 seconds to review and draft from the remaining stat cards. If a player fails to select a card in that time, the pod judge issues that player the highest-cost stat card still remaining from the booster pack.

Draft OrderThe draft order moves in a horseshoe pattern, beginning with the active player and continuing around the table to the last participant in the group who has not yet drafted a stat card. The last player in the group selects a second stat card, and then the draft continues in reverse order, moving back toward the first player. Once the draft is completed, all players should have the same number of miniatures.

Example: Four players are seated at a table. They are numbered 1-2-3-4 in clockwise order. The draft runs in this pattern:

Booster Pack Draft RulesPlayers may not communicate with others during a draft.

After the 30 second review, if a player picks up a stat card, that card is considered drafted and the player may not select a different stat card. Players should only touch stat cards if it is their turn to draft.

During the draft, players must display all stat cards they drafted stat side face up in view of all players.

After each booster pack is drafted, players should collect the models that match the stat cards they drafted.

Draft Squad Construction and RegistrationOnce the draft is completed, players will have 20 minutes to build and register their squads from the miniatures they drafted.

Squads may not contain more points than the limit specified by the format category.

Players may choose their terrain map during squad registration and should indicate their choice on their squad registration form.

In Draft tournaments, a player's squad must be a Light or Dark squad using the following faction rules: • A Light side squad may contain Old Republic, Republic, Rebel Alliance and New Republic miniatures.• A Dark side squad may contain Sith, Separatists and Empire miniatures.• Fringe, Mandalorian and Yuuzhan Vong miniatures can be used in either Light or Dark side squads.

Draft Tournament Round ProceduresUnder most circumstances, players should only play against other players in their draft pod. However, it is sometimes necessary to set up matches between people from different pods with the squads built from the first draft. In this case, the organizer need not conduct a second draft. Choice of map, which player sets up first and which player goes first are as per Section 640 (Rules for Sealed Tournaments)

660. RULES FOR DYNAMIC DUO TOURNAMENTS

Using only two characters, each player builds a squad totaling exactly 100 points. Normal faction rules apply. Reinforcements and Reserves abilities are ignored. Each phase, players activate 1 character instead of two.

The following character’s special ability is not permissible for use in the Dynamic Duo format:Boba Fett, Bounty Hunter – Disintegration.

670. Scoring and Standings (All Tournament Formats)

Victory

In all tournament formats, a victory shall be awarded 3 match points to the winner of the match. A victory is declared when the match is completed by one of the players by either destroying his opponent’s entire squad or by scoring the required number of victory points (for example in a 150 point match victory is declared when 150 or more points is scored). A bye for the round is considered a complete game victory and shall be awarded 3 match points.

Victory by Tiebreaker

In all tournament formats, a victory by tiebreaker shall be awarded 2 match points to the winner of the match. Victory by tiebreak occurs when time is called for the match or five rounds have passed without a player making an attack, making a saving throw or taking damage and the normal victory conditions have not been met for the match. The player winning the match as determined by Section 616 will then receive 2 match points for their victory.

Victory by Concession

In all tournament formats, a victory by concession shall be awarded 3 match points if the game is conceded prior to the halfway point in the match, typically 30 minutes. After the halfway point, a player conceding will need to call for the judge to determine the match points. The game must be very lopsided for a judge to award the full 3 points after the halfway point. Otherwise it will be 2 points.

LossIn all tournament formats, a loss by any means shall be awarded 0 match points.

StandingsStandings in a tournament, for declaring a tournament winner, shall be determined by match points. In the event of multiple players being tied for match points the following shall be used to determine the final standings:

1. Match Win Points – The player with the most match points.

2. Match Win Percentage – The player with the highest match winning percentage.

3. Completed Victories – The player with highest number completed victories during the tournament (games in which 3 match points were achieved)

4. Head to Head Matchups – The player who has won any head to head matchups would be ahead of the loser in a head to head matchup.

Constructed: A tournament in which players bring their own squads. Squads are built from a large pool of miniatures, depending on the exact format.

DCI: Organization dedicated to developing and maintaining tournament structures for trading card and miniatures games. Formerly an acronym for Duelists’ Convocation International, the name is now simply the DCI.

Judge: Someone making sure the tournament is run fairly and efficiently.

Limited: A tournament in which players build their squads from miniatures they open or draft during the tournament.

Match: A game or series of games between two players or teams that determines a winner. In Star Wars Miniatures, there is one game per match.

Tournament Organizer: The person responsible for where and when the tournament happens. This person is also responsible for sending the results to the SWMGPA so that players' ratings are updated appropriately.

Rating: A numeric value published by the SWMGPA that indicates a player’s past performance in SWMGPA-sanctioned tournaments.

Single Elimination: A competition structure that eliminates players after one match loss. It may be necessary to award byes in the first round to create a situation in which there will be only two undefeated participants playing off in the last round of the event.

Swiss Rounds: Competition structure that allows players to participate in every round of the tournament. Single-elimination final rounds may follow Swiss rounds in some tournaments.

SWMGPA: Star Wars Miniatures Gamers Players Association. This organization has effectively replaced the DCI as a governing body to the game. All match play and rated tournaments will be governed by this body with DCI discontinued support of Star Wars Miniatures.

If you don't mind me asking why are we unleashing GOWK into the world?

it was throughly playtested before the came to this decision. WIth the current meta GOWK is fine the way he was originally meant. THere is alot of direct damageing abillities out there now that can circumvent soresu.

_________________When Life Gives you Lemons........... Squirt everyone Else in the eyes and steal their fruit.

If you don't mind me asking why are we unleashing GOWK into the world?

The feeling is now the rest of the factions have caught up to the republic and are able to deal with this piece making it not as abusive as it once was. Can you still make some tough squads with him as a center piece sure. But there are far more squads now that can handle him then there were when he was released.

That is true and what I kinda figured, but I appreciate getting an official answer to give all the moaners and groaners I'm going to have at my tourney tonight LOL!! By the way thanks for annoucing this a week before Lansing so I have time to work on a different squad and get it playtested .

_________________

Winning a tournament always allows doing whatever is within the rules to win. - Billiv15

Good question. The reasoning I heard was that damage output in the game has really ramped up in the last 2 years, so that SSM is no longer broken like it used to be.

1. There are more characters that can make multiple attacks (through GMA and Twin), so the SSM character will be making more saves and burning through FP faster. 2. In addition to making more attacks, characters are also making bigger attacks (Bastilla's ABM, Bandon's CE, the Assassin SA, etc), so the attacks that do get through are going to whittle down the SSM character more quickly.3. There are a lot more characters that have access to direct damage (push, lightning, etc), and SSM doesn't help one bit against those.4. Also, especially with the pieces in V-set 3, Vong are stronger now than ever; GOWK's mettle/motf2 craziness won't work against them.5. Maybe it's not worth mentioning, but I'll include it here anyway: GOWK with his mettle/motf2 fprrs serves as a good counter to the new Crazy-Crit-Machine (Mace Windu), which some people have been complaining about.6. OR is being played a lot more than before, and Bastilla's ABM completely nerfs half of the reason for playing GOWK in the first place (his CE).

Those are the reasons that I've heard. Some of them are more convincing to me than others, but there they are. Perhaps there are more reasons that I haven't taken into account.

If that's not convincing yet, then maybe it's worth it to try a few playtests. Build a competitive GOWK squad and play it against a couple of the current top competitive squads. You'll probably find that GOWK does decently well vs some squads, but that he's not nearly so tough vs some other squads...and that's a good thing.

_________________"Don't give the tool more credit than the master." --Weeks

GOWK was a big issue about 3-4 years ago. It's funny - the solution to how to deal with him then spawned a different problem.

Chicago Regionals 2009 GOWK was LITERALLY in every other squad. I was able to win my first regional that year by figuring out the best counter to GOWK. It wasn't direct damage, it was speed. Speed to zip around and kill the REST of the squad, and then shoot GOWK as you stay away from him. My squad was Luke's Snowspeeder, Han Smuggler, Princess Leia, Reeikan, Dodanna, Juno, Lobot. Eventually GOWK gets worn down, but frequently not under an hour. And that was at 150. It was one of those situations where by that point you were clearly ahead, you clearly would EVENTUALLY win. But if the player controlling GOWK's rolling hot - the game could LITERALLY last forever. BUT - that didn't matter then. You were ahead, there was no 3/2 scoring system, game over - you win (fairly easily in most cases).

Then they made GOWK only fully functional vs Non-Melee, and he fell out of use. None-the-less, the community saw how effective a powerful and speedy gun team could be, especially Luke's Snowspeeder, Han Smuggler, Princess Leia, Reeikan, and Dodanna. That year at GenCon, NEARLY ever other squad had that core. In fact - Deri's World Championship winning squad still had the Smuggler cannon, but subbed in Luke Commando, Madine, and an ERC to kill all the Snowspeeders he would encounter. Many games didn't end, and this was annoying to many people. Squads all based mainly on guns and evade bring similar problems that GOWK did - games last longer. On average, only 1/2 of the shots get through.

Then the game rules changed in 2 major ways. #1 - 3/2 scoring. People encouraged to finish games, indirectly punished for not.#2 - 200pt level for the championships.

Along the way Melee has become more than viable (3 years ago it was a joke with all the speedy high powered guns). So, there became WAY less reliance on evade.

BUT - even with the STRONG internal encouragement to finish games with the 3/2 scoring system, still many games do not finish. Not even everyone in our top 8 at the championship this year finished all their games.

MY big concern with GOWK going back the way he was, is that MORE games won't finish. And it's not just GOWK now, it's Flobi and Darth Zannah. Granted the latter 2 don't have mettle, but I can see especially Zannah being an issue as well.

GOWK squads are beatable (as are Zannah and Flobi squads), but I don't like the idea of the possibility of games going on infinitely if someone is rolling hot with saves. With any other ability - you can counter with another type of attack. Parry? Use non-melee. Regular Soresu? Just get adjacent. Ditto vs evade.

So, of course the easy argument is that there is direct damage. Well - having a squad of only direct damage is very weak in the meta right now. And having a squad with SOME direct damage can be decent, but any player with GOWK or Zannah worth their salt will kill that mechanic first. Both Republic and Sith have access to long distance swap, which means they can get in deep, kill your direct damage dealer(s), and leave you with regular old attacks vs their Soresu Style mastery. Does this mean they will win? Not necessarily. Does it lessen the chance that the game will finish in time? Almost certainly.

GOWK is just a crutch piece for lesser players, and he's frustrating because he lengthens games. I honestly don't think I have EVER lost to a GOWK squad in competition, but I have had 2 point wins vs him - and that alone is frustrating. It's frustrating when you have the better team, you play better, and you end up punished because you attacked GOWK 72 times and didn't have enough TIME to kill him, because the opponent kept making the save rolls.

Dice will always be a factor in this game. Save rolls will as well most likely. But Soresu Style Mastery when functional vs ALL attacks increases this exponentially. It can make mediocre players hang with great ones. But the bigger issue is having the mediocre players forcing a better player into a 2 pt win because of lucky rolling. Not beating the better player, just not letting them finish.

With GOWK - you can easily go 10 rounds or more, fully engaged, no stalling or slow play - and still not finish. That is an issue.

Now we have 200 pt squads at the championship level, games last longer. Now we have 3/2 scoring - punishment for not finishing. We have never had GOWK in his fully functional capacity in an environment with 3/2 scoring, much less in Regional and World Championship 200 pt level.

I predict games where Soresu Style Mastery is involved and the squad containing Soresu Style Mastery loses, to go to time and not finish more often than any other squads(percentage wise). To me that is an issue.

Ask Lou how long his GOWK Squad lasted against my Mira Cannon squad....

He must have been rolling bad. Obviously GOWK dies like anyone else when you fail all his saves.

Ask Lou how long his GOWK squad lasted against my Droids-a-plenty squad at Marmalade Dog last year. I think I literally attacked over 100 times in that game and still barely came out with a 2 pt win. Combination of me rolling low (even when combining fire multiple times) and him rolling hot for his saves.

Of course there will be games that will finish as normal. But I think Soresu Style Mastery as it stands now will increase the average length of games, and that is a negative side effect in my opinion.

But what's done is done. Nothing to do now but watch as it unfolds.

Unlike 2009 regionals, I think the majority of players will NOT play GOWK. But the handful that do will just be annoying.

Aka the 2009 regional with my gungans vs Bill GOWK round 1 or GOWK vs GOWK that same year with Matt P.I am not a fan of the change because of the crazy things that can happen. I think the change is fine overall though because of the scoring changes,new characters and Maps. I really think Tim is right that he will just be annoying because the key now a days is to win and not go to time. GOWK can still easy go to time a lot which is not good for the GOWK player than the other player if most of the time they get full wins vs other stuff.

Last edited by jonnyb815 on Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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